The lies won’t die.
Diane Lachel, spokeswoman for Tacoma telecommunications provider Click, complained last week that door-to-door salespeople of a competitor, CenturyLink, were spreading a falsehood that had Click closing.
Click is not closing, Lachel emphasized.
Meg Andrews, spokeswoman for CenturyLink, said last week that her company would discuss the matter with the vendor that employed the door-to-door salespeople.
She regretted the situation, she said, as this was not the way CenturyLink likes to do business.
She regrets it still, and perhaps even more, now that Lachel has said a formal complaint will be filed with the Office of the State Attorney General.
Lachel will make the filing, she said Thursday, because the falsehood persists.
“We’re going on a week here,” she said. “I’m getting very frustrated.”
As late as Thursday, she said, she heard from a Click customer in Northeast Tacoma who had been told the tale.
“While I appreciate Meg’s assurance, it hasn’t proven to have worked yet,” Lachel said.
“It’s a vendor we’re using,” Andrews said Thursday. “On Friday when we were made aware of the situation the vendor was told it is not in our best interest. I’ve been working with Diane on a daily basis.”
She said she has continued to press the vendor to impress upon its sales personnel that such business practices are not in the best interest of CenturyLink.
“It’s not really in our voice, or tone,” she said. “It’s not a good thing for us. We’ve never had this type of experience before.”
Dan Sytman, spokesman for the attorney general, notes that there is a state law – RCW 19.86.020 – on the subject that states, “Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful.”
Until his office receives a formal complaint, he said, there will be no comment.
In the meantime, Lachel asks that anyone who hears this mendacious pitch from a CenturyLink representative call her office at 253-502-8900.
c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com
253-597-8535
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